It's times like this you understand those that wish for a rich husband, white picket fence and four cosy walls.
Tucked away, only a short walk from the city centre, is what will soon be known as your new home. A futuristic, sky-line apartment all yours and yours only. This has to be some kind of dream, some cruel trick. Your wide eyes twinkle in tandem with shards of light that bounce from the overhead chandelier, spraying the toes of your sneakers in crystal drips.
"I'm sorry, but I am quite serious, Miss (L/N). This is the best we can offer for you at this time." The agent addresses you with a strained smile and you have to look down just to see it stretch across his fur grazed cheeks. Like this isn't the nicest apartment you've ever stepped foot in. White walls, sparkling parquet flooring and various rows of floor to ceiling windows that look out onto the heart of the city. It's freshly cleaned, you can tell by the way the bleach wafts through your nose and you fight the urge to take a deep inhale. Even the couch is spotless, not a crumb in sight, and you really hope this place comes fully furnished. Fully furnished, like you'd be able to avoid this place with the small amount of money you have saved up, let alone the furnishing that comes with.
"How much is the rent?" You turn sharply, sucked back to the real world for a bitter moment.
"The agency will cover that." He waves you off with a paw and you feel stupid for asking such a question, "It's important for someone of your position to be stationed within the city centre," He explains, nasally voice splitting in places, "Dynamight needs you close in case of emergency, and the commute to work each morning will be much easier with the Agency only down the street." He trails off, eyeing the shining windows like this whole place is below him.
"I understand." You nod to the wall, but you don't. Not really. "Must be hard to work for someone as stuck up as Dynamight, huh?" You turn to him with a grin, expecting some kind of shared banter in the mockery of the pro-hero, but his snout sours.
"I will be back next week to ensure you're all settled in. Your key card is in the bedside drawer, you will need it to enter the building tomorrow so don't forget it. Everything here is yours, though we do expect it will be kept in good condition over the course of your stay." He then bids you good day with a slight bounce just to meet the door handle, slamming it behind him with a surprising amount of force for someone so small.
So Dynamight's workers don't seem to hate him. You'd have to keep that opinion of yours tightly locked away from now on.
Trailing your new apartment, you swing the keys around your ring finger —cosplaying that of a wealthy home owner — and turn to gaze from the room length windows. It's a little cloudy, which takes away from the ambiance, but who are you to complain right now? New job, new place. Despite the tragedy of your old home being a pile of rubble on the streets, things were looking up.
At least that's what you try to tell yourself.
You'd lying if you didn't admit how tight your jaw has been since you stepped foot out of the sleek limo he'd sent for you. So some big shot hero blasts your neighbourhood to smithereens, and the agency tries to save face by employing you? As his publicist, no less.
You flop down on the irritatingly comfortable couch, the cushions dipping under your weight. It's now your job to appeal for the one man who uprooted your life, to make him out to be some shiny, polished hero and a part of you dies a little inside each time you have to admit this to yourself. That you can't let personal vendettas get in the way of work, that this is all you've ever wanted and more. You flick on the TV just to see the new villain attack going on across the city. It put a halt on some of the trains on the way here, so you were late for your showing. Black smoke blooms from empty buildings, something twists in your gut. The reporter on the screen shakes a little as she brings the mic to her mouth, forcing a pearly smile despite the chaos that ensues behind her. You grimace, is this the sort of life you were going to lead before all this? Hero journalism, front lines to the destruction with a camera shoved down your throat.
You mute it, allowing the silence to fill the room.
This didn't have to be so bad. You're sure someone out there would die for an opportunity like this, and that many would be able to look on the bright side. It's a department you struggle in, but you're working on it. Hero agencies are no place for a pessimist.
A hot shower and freshly washed hair— ready for an early wake up tomorrow — later and you find yourself curled against the couch once more. Definitely too comfortable. You squeeze the water from the ends of your hair into the complimentary towels they'd furnished this place with, as well a bathrobe engraved with the initials of Dynamight's agency that's wrapped tightly around your waist.
Something on the screen catches your eye and you fumble for the volume button. You almost sink into the floor when the bright yellow headline flashes across the screen 'DYNAMIGHT's NEW PUBLICIST: YN LN.'
This is going to be a long year.